Best Buy Rant

[Jack Hogoboom]

Typical holiday run-around. Ordered something from the Best Buy website last night. Even though I entered my current address, the e-mail receipt specified an old address. I called Customer "Care". After waiting 25 minutes on hold, I was told they couldn't change the address on the order. Not being one to take defeat lightly, I re-ordered the product, making sure it was going to the correct address, then called back customer service again. Wait for 25 minutes again. Customer "Care" says they can't make the cancellation on their system. They suggest that I call an automated number, enter my order number and then I can cancel the order over the phone. I do that, only to get into a loop where the only thing I can do is confirm the order.

I go to bed angry, but resolved the fix the problem.

I call again a little while ago. Spend 40 minutes on the phone. Get someone on the phone who says she can't cancel the order for some reason and suggests I call back again in a few hours. Needless to say, I didn't think that was the right answer.

I told her that I would just call my credit card company and put the charge into dispute.

I used to feel bad sometimes about going into a Best Buy to browse for products and then buy them on the Internet. Not anymore. If this is customer service, this customer is heading elsewhere.

Coincidentally, Best Buy announced great earnings today. Apparently, their profits are now driven by extended warranties and the huge mark-ups they charge on Geek Squad installations and assistance. Buyer beware. No one's interested in serving the customer anymore. All about profit margins....

Thanks for letting me rant.

Jack

[mark page]

Jack,
see my rant under tv service policy repairs.

[Scott Shepherd]

Oh, you had to get me started, did you?

My experience with Best Buy quite a few years ago- I went in to buy a digital camera. Told the kid who was working the area what I planned to do with it. I told him all the things I wanted (like a long lasting battery). All when the point and shoot cameras were new.

He recommended a Sony, which I bought. Got it home, took less than a dozen photos and the batteries went dead. Took it back and told them it didn't have the features I described to the sales person who recommended it to me and I'd like to exchange it for a new, more expensive model with the features I had asked for.

I was told that I would have to pay something like 20-25% to return it. I explained to the person that I specifically requested certain features and the sales person said that model had it, when in fact, it didn't. She asked me who told me that, and I gave her the guys name and appearance. She told me that was impossible because he didn't work in the camera section. She asked me what color shirt he had on and I told her the color and she told me that was also impossible, since those colored shirts were for people who worked in a service role. I explained our conversation in great detail.

I asked for the manager, and was told by the manager that it was impossible for the person who sold it to me to have helped me because he didn't work in the camera department. I explained his words, even models he told me to avoid because they had problems with them, and even his clothing. They insisted that I was not telling the truth and that no one had helped me. I explained I wanted to return it and get a more expensive camera with the features I requested. I was charged 20 or 25% restocking fee and escorted out of the building by security.

Now I didn't have this camera for days or weeks, but less than 18 hours. I took a total of something like 12 photos with it before the batteries died.

Now, I'm no sales guru, but if they would have exchanged the camera and sold me a more expensive model, I would have been thrilled and I would have bought numerous tv's, computers, mp3 players, video games, DVD's, CD's, and who knows what other electronic things I have bought since then. I have bought 10's of thousands of dollars of stuff since that day, and not a penny of it came from Best Buy.

I have told everyone that will listen to me the story and I know I have personally changed people's minds on expensive purchases. None of my family, friends, or co-workers over the years have used them since then. My guess is that I have impacted about $100,000 in sales from them, all because they called me a liar and told me that I wasn't telling the truth on a person who had helped me in their store.

$100,000 in lost sales over what probably would have cost them $25. Nice job. Haven't been in the store in many years now and have no plans to change it. Rule #1 of business, don't call your customers liars.

I'm an easy going person and can't recall the last time I raised my voice. To this day I'm dumbfounded at what I did or said that would have made them call me a liar. Being able to give great detail about the guy, his appearance as well as details about the conversation seemed to me like all I needed to know. Who knew telling those facts would get me labeled as a liar.

I did call their corporate office and got my money refunded, but danged if they didn't want me to go back to the very store and speak to the manager who called me a liar to get my money back. I never went back to get it.

[Chris Padilla]

Scott, that sounds soooooooooooooo made up! haha

I've had good experience at my local Best Buy but you can be darn sure if I were treated like Scott, I'd be doing PRECISELY what he had done: never go back and spread the word!

[Lee DeRaud]

Must be an East-coast thing: I've never had any trouble returning stuff for straight-up refunds, much less exchanging to a higher-priced item.

[Scott Shepherd]

yeah Chris, you say that because you're probably the kid who sold it to me

Lee, you must be lucky, in reviewing their web site, it shows a 15% restocking charge on all digital cameras and other electronics.

They have made it very public around here. Everyone around here knows that you get charged if you take something back. It's even been on the local news several times where people have called the news and complained about it.

Here's the blurb from their website :

"Restocking fee
A restocking fee of 15% will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS/navigation and in-car video systems unless defective or prohibited by law. A restocking fee of 25% will be charged on Special Order Products, including appliances unless defective or prohibited by law."

[Ken Salisbury]

Use the tactic I always use when they refuse to take something back or exchange something. I tell them politely that if they don't do it I will come back later and burn their store down . works most of the time.

[Greg Cole]

I am not a fan of any big box store regardless of what they are selling.
I hate the "can I help you" question asked in a tone that clearly says they can't, sorry to bother you at work at a retail store.
Rarely will you find someone who knows their product lines well, never mind specific info that an educated customer would ask. Oh, and store policies.... uh what? Yes, there are exceptions to what I've said, but surely not many or at least not in stores I've been in.
Scott, I think I bought that camera for my wife for Christmas a few years ago. Not only did it eat batteries but after less than 30 days the lense went haywire & so did the shutters. Exchanged under warranty for one that did the same thing. Anyway, that was it for me. I tossed it after smashing it into oblivion. No more Sony in my house. I have a 35mm Canon I LOVE and not sure why I didn't get a Canon digital then, cause that's what LOML has now & its great.

Greg

[Lee DeRaud]

Lee, you must be lucky, in reviewing their web site, it shows a 15% restocking charge on all digital cameras and other electronics.

They have made it very public around here. Everyone around here knows that you get charged if you take something back. It's even been on the local news several times where people have called the news and complained about it.

Here's the blurb from their website :

"Restocking fee
A restocking fee of 15% will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS/navigation and in-car video systems unless defective or prohibited by law. A restocking fee of 25% will be charged on Special Order Products, including appliances unless defective or prohibited by law."

Yup. Key phrase in that is "unless defective or prohibited by law". It's certainly possible that such a restocking is illegal here in California, but I don't think so.

In any case, the first words out of my mouth at the return counter would have been, "Batteries went dead after only a dozen pictures." Worker bee takes the camera out of the box and, sure enough, the batteries are dead: no problem.

[Matt Meiser]

Unfortunately the 15% thing is because some people buy things in those categories, use them for a few days, then take them back so they don't have to buy them when they only need them for a few days. Same reason many places won't take returns on generators. So the honest people get screwed by the dishonest.

[David G Baker]

There was and maybe still is a site that was dedicated to Best Buy horror stories. Do a Google before you spend a lot of time defending Best Buy.
I still look at Best Buy when shopping and won't hesitate to buy a solid brand name product through them if the price is good. I am a sucker for quality at a good price if they carry the product.

[Matt Meiser]

Sorry, I wasn't defending them. They are pretty much scum of the earth as far as I'm concerned. I've seen that site. Just that that policy is actually pretty common. I know Circuit City has it too and I'm sure many others.

About 10 years ago my dad bought a computer system at BB that came with a printer, but the printer was out of stock. To get the deal he had to pay for everything and got a voucher for the printer. After 2 weeks he stopped in another BB store and they had dozens of them on a pallet. They wouldn't give him one and told him he had to wait until the store where he bought everything had them. He said he was leaving with a printer and they could either take the voucher or not. They threatened to call the police and he told them to go ahead. He left a little later with his printer.

When we got our DirecTV system we got it at BB, and they didn't give us a $100 gift card that was advertised starting that morning (we didn't see the ad until we got home.) They tried to get out of giving it to us because they said we didn't ask at the time. That was the last major purchase I've made at BB (3 years ago.) Only smaller stuff since then and not even much of that. I always go in to look, but usually end up buying elsewhere because BB doesn't carry it, or the do, but don't have it in stock.

Then there's the whole internal/external web site scam.

Honestly, its not that great of a store anymore. They are carrying more and more stuff that is their own brands, meaning you can't comparison shop or even find reviews on a lot of it. Kind of reminds me of the old Radio Shack stuff--Optimus, Archer, etc.--which was usually disappointing and overpriced.

We did get our latest cell phones there. They had the ones we wanted for 1 cent for existing subscribers. Even Sprint wanted $30 each. Then I looked at car chargers for them. Theirs were $20 each. Walmart had them for $10 each. Ebay had them for $7-something for two of them, including shipping. They all appear to be the same imported pieces of junk plastic. Of course the BB moron didn't activate them right so we had to call Sprint and go through the whole activation process. There's no good place to buy a cell phone. I've gotten them at cell phone stores before and alway feel like I need a shower when I leave.

Our next TV is most likely going to come from Costco. They give you the extended warranty for free instead of making a huge profit on it.

[Gary Keedwell]

Yea Matt..Costco Rocks.....Bought my 46" Sony and when the price went down $200 OVER a month later...they credited my CC.
Gary

[Randy Cohen]

i have had no problem with best buy but i would never ask a sales associate there for help to decide what to buy. you go there knowing exactly what you want and exactly the price you are going to pay and transact. if the price is not what you had expected you walk. you don't buy the extra warrantee stuff.
the BBB is an effective tool when spoken loudly in public to the store manager.

[Matt Meiser]

the BBB is an effective tool when spoken loudly in public to the store manager.

I thought that only worked in the showroom of a crowded car dealer.